This invention relates to disposing of discarded tire casings in a useful and environmentally safe manner.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,236,756 to Halliburton there is described a method of forming drainage culverts from discarded tire parts. The two side walls of the tire casings are initially separated from the center tread section and the tire beads are then removed from the side wall sections. Mounting holes at specific intervals are formed in each side wall and the side walls are slidably mounted in a face-to-face relationship on a metal frame having parallel rods that align with the holes in the casing. An end plate is placed over the stack and is compressed against a similar end plate welded to the rods. The stack is finally secured in a compressed state by metal gripping devices that are also used to cojoin one culvert section to an adjacent section.
The Haliburton culvert provides a relatively tight conduit for conducting water from one place to another. As explained by Halliburton, tar or the like can be coated over the interior and exterior surfaces of the culvert as well as the exposed surfaces of the metal parts to render the system water tight and protect the metal components against corrosion. Because of the many machining operations required in the construction of the culvert sections and the amount of steel parts utilized in the construction, the cost of each section is relatively high.
Unlike Halliburton, applicant's present invention relates to the use of discarded tire casings in the construction of drainage systems for redistributing water from wet areas to dryer areas where the water can be returned back into the soil. As will be described below, the pipe-like sections of applicants invention are provided with radially disposed passages to permit water to move into and out of the pipe sections at a desired rate.
The present drainage system does not require the use of metal parts in its construction and thus, is not susceptible to corrosion or deterioration when buried in the ground. The drainage sections can be assembled with a minimum amount of manufacturing steps, thereby considerably reducing the cost of the individual sections. The sections can furthermore be laid in the ground with a minimum amount of preparation thereby reducing the cost of installing.